If there’s one thing that I’ve come to realize over the years is that fear is nothing. Nothing until it comes to understand its full potential. Fear can change you, but only if you let it. Fear can also defeat you. It can tie you up so tight that you can’t even move your arms or legs. It can make you feel as though there is no escape. It can make you into something you’re not. But it can also compel you to do incredible things. Things you would never have even thought of doing. Some people think that it’s better to not show fear. They think that by doing so the fear isn’t real. But not showing fear or pretending it isn’t real does not mean you’ve overcome it.

I come from a generation of desensitized children. We face more death, violence and cruelty than any other generation. It’s everywhere. It’s in everything. It’s right in front of our very eyes. I can’t even count the number of crime shows out there that deal with serial murderers, rapists, child abusers, etc. because there are simply too many. There are plenty of shows out there that basically state in the premise that “violence is the only answer”. They place us in a world that has become “kill or be killed”.

These are the things that we see each and every day. We witness a never ending cycle of murder, violence and abuse. But here’s the kicker. Most of these shows are supposed to depict real life. If that’s the case, then we live in an world that should be one of outright fear. If this is our reality, then it’s not very bright. Is there no light at the end of the tunnel? Or are we just waiting to be consumed by a flesh-eating-formerly-human-monster?

I’ve wondered what these shows are supposed to be teaching us. Are we supposed to be okay with gun violence? Racism? Sexism? Abuse? Murder? Sexual Assault? Or are we simply supposed to be afraid? I’ve been a fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead (created by Frank Darabont) since season 1 and that is one show that simply thrives off fear. Fear of death, dying, defeat, the dead and ultimately what is left of humanity and whether or not there is really anything human left. I’m aware that this show is not a complete depiction of real life and it’s not entirely like what the crime shows deal with. But the fear on that show is very real. No matter what world we’re living in, we fear the same things time and time again. It’s come to a point on the show (particularly this most recent season) that we’ve come to realize that the dead isn’t the only thing to be afraid of. Humanity is just as dangerous, if not more so. In a world without rules or laws, almost every single person is out for blood. Blood they have to spill in order to protect their own.

In the world of crime shows, we fear humanity above all else. The human race is constantly trying to save what has been destroyed. In many of these shows you come across a human being who thinks that killing is the only way to save the greater good. Unmask what is haunting us and we can overcome it. But what happens when we start being haunted by what we see?

A few weeks ago, I made a futile attempt to get into NBC’s Hannibal (created by Bryan Fuller). I got through to the first 5 minutes of season 1, episode 4 and I just could no longer stomach it. I tend to know when things will scare me, but I’m not always sure what. I have refused to watch any of the Hannibal films because I know I’ll be terrified and yet, I somehow thought I could handle the show. Thinking back on it, I wonder where my fear came from upon seeing two humans turned into angels. Was the decimation of another human being too disturbing to witness? Or was it witnessing what humanity is capable of what truly scared me? I’m not entirely sure. And yet, I still have the lingering feeling to go back and try again. To try and make it work.

That being said, why is it much easier for me to keep watching The Walking Dead while I struggle with the desire to watch Hannibal? Is it the idea that Hannibal takes places in the present world, where as The Walking Dead takes place in a possible future? Either way, both shows speak to one major question.

What’s truly more terrifying: the dead or humanity? Is it possible that once we find an answer to that question we’ll simply no longer be afraid?

I know there are a lot of people out there who do not care or who do not understand why our society takes so much pride in celebrity culture. Why so many people want to be like their famous idol or why we even care what they have had for breakfast one morning. Some people also don’t understand why people take so much pride and care so much about a person who they do not even know and who they will most likely never meet.

But there is one thing that all people can understand. Celebrities are people too and like all people, they die in unexplainable and incomprehensible ways. These deaths are the ones talked about around the world. The ones that reach thousands of people within seconds. Yes, it’s true that we may have never met them or we may not have seen all of their contributions to film, television, music, etc. they still lived a life worth mentioning. Whether they died from natural causes, from drug or alchohol abuse, in an unexplained accident, it’s important to take a moment, to sit back and think.

To think about their lives and your own. About how precious life really is. Every time I hear about a celebrity dying I am reminded, once again, that we are not invincible. There are things that can hurt us and there are things that may one day end our lives. I go through a day to day routine and I don’t really think about death. Sure it’s always there in the back of my mind, but I don’t really think about it until someone or something forces me back into reality.

Today, I was reminded that death walks hand in hand with life. In fact, they live right next door to each other. One cannot exist without the other. They have a cohesiveness that us mere mortals cannot hope to understand. They follow each other each and every day. And one day they will finally meet in the middle. Shake each others hands. Their independence depends upon the other. We cannot escape either one. We can only hope to come to terms with the fact that each passing minute, each day we are here on this earth, is one to cherish and to not take for granted.

R.I.P Paul Walker and all of those who have left this earth. Each and every one of you were the light reaching through the dark. You may never truly know just how much your existence has brightened our own.

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About Me

"Lead us from the unreal to the real. Lead us from darkness to light. Lead us from death to immortality" – Sanskrit Mantra

My tag line is this: Imagine Immortality. It’s not about living forever. No one would actually want to live forever. What we want, instead, is time. Time to live, time to love, time to laugh and time to find ourselves. I imagine there will be a moment when we have all the time we need to accomplish our greatest feats and be our greatest selves. That’s why I imagine immortality.

From the lips of our mortal bodies, our words will grant us immortality.